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Biomedical subjects

D A Fergusson

Publications and source records attributed to D A Fergusson.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Cell salvage for minimising perioperative allogeneic blood transfusion.

BACKGROUND: Concerns regarding the safety of transfused blood, have prompted reconsideration of the use of allogeneic (blood from an unrelated donor) red blood cell (RBC) transfusion, and a range of techniques to minimise transfusion requirements. OBJECTIVES: To examine the evidence for the efficacy of cell salvage in reducing allogeneic blood transfusion and the evidence for any effect on clinical outcomes. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Current Contents and the websites of international health technology assessment agencies. The reference lists in identified trials and review articles were also searched, and study authors were contacted to identify additional studies. The searches were updated in January 2004. SELECTION CRITERIA: Controlled parallel group trials in which adult patients, scheduled for non-urgent surgery, were randomised to cell salvage, or to a control group, who did not receive the intervention. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two authors independently screened search results, extracted data and assessed methodological quality. The main outcomes measures were the number of patients exposed to allogeneic red cell transfusion, and the amount of blood transfused. Other outcomes measured were re-operation for bleeding, blood loss, post-operative complications (thrombosis, infection, non-fatal myocardial infarction, renal failure), mortality, and length of hospital stay (LOS). MAIN RESULTS: Overall, the use of cell salvage reduced the rate of exposure to allogeneic RBC transfusion by a relative 39% (relative risk [RR] = 0.61: 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.52 to 0.71). The absolute reduction in risk (ARR) of receiving an allogeneic RBC transfusion was 23% (95% CI 16% to 30%). In orthopaedic procedures the RR of exposure to RBC transfusion was 0.42 (95% CI 0.32 to 0.54) compared to 0.77 (95% CI 0.68 to 0.87) for cardiac procedures. The use of cell salvage resulted in an average saving of 0.67 units of allogeneic RBC per patient (weighted mean difference was -0.64; 95% CI -0.89 to -0.45). Cell salvage did not appear to impact adversely on clinical outcomes. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest cell salvage is efficacious in reducing the need for allogeneic red cell transfusion in adult elective surgery. However, the methodological quality of trials was poor. As the trials were unblinded and lacked adequate concealment of treatment allocation, transfusion practices may have been influenced by knowledge of the patients' treatment status biasing the results in favour of cell salvage.

Blood Specimen Collection↗
PubMed2003

Cell salvage for minimising perioperative allogeneic blood transfusion.

BACKGROUND: Concerns regarding the safety of transfused blood, have prompted reconsideration of the use of allogeneic (blood from an unrelated donor) red blood cell (RBC) transfusion, and a range of techniques to minimise transfusion requirements. OBJECTIVES: To examine the evidence for the efficacy of cell salvage in reducing allogeneic blood transfusion and the evidence for any effect on clinical outcomes. SEARCH STRATEGY: Articles were identified by: computer searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Current Contents (to July 2002), the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (Issue 2, 2002) and websites of international health technology assessment agencies. References in the identified trials and review articles were searched and authors contacted to identify additional studies. SELECTION CRITERIA: Controlled parallel group trials in which adult patients, scheduled for non-urgent surgery, were randomised to cell salvage, or to a control group, who did not receive the intervention. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Trial quality was assessed using criteria proposed by Schulz et al. (Schulz 1995) and Jadad et al. (Jadad 1996). Main outcomes measured were: the number of patients exposed to allogeneic red cell transfusion, and the amount of blood transfused. Other outcomes measured were: re-operation for bleeding, blood loss, post-operative complications (thrombosis, infection, non-fatal myocardial infarction, renal failure), mortality, and length of hospital stay (LOS). MAIN RESULTS: Overall, the use of cell salvage reduced the rate of exposure to allogeneic RBC transfusion by a relative 40% (relative risk [RR] = 0.60: 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.51 to 0.70). The absolute reduction in risk (ARR) of receiving an allogeneic RBC transfusion was 23% (95%CI = 16% to 30%). In orthopaedic procedures the relative risk (RR) of exposure to RBC transfusion was 0.42 (95%CI = 0.32 to 0.54) compared to 0.78 (95%CI = 0.68 to 0.88) for cardiac procedures. The use of cell salvage resulted in an average saving of 0.64 units of allogeneic RBC per patient (weighted mean difference [WMD] = -0.64: 95%CI = -0.86 to -0.46). Cell salvage did not appear to impact adversely on clinical outcomes. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest cell salvage is efficacious in reducing the need for allogeneic red cell transfusion in adult elective surgery. However, the methodological quality of trials was poor. As the trials were unblinded and lacked adequate concealment of treatment allocation, transfusion practices may have been influenced by knowledge of the patient's treatment status biasing the results in favour of cell salvage.

Blood Transfusion, Autologous↗
PubMed2000

Cost effectiveness of epoetin-alpha to augment preoperative autologous blood donation in elective cardiac surgery.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the cost effectiveness of using epoetin-alpha (erythropoietin) to augment preoperative autologous donation (PAD) of blood prior to elective cardiac surgery. DESIGN AND SETTING: We designed a decision-analytic model incorporating the risk of receiving allogeneic blood, the costs of blood products, the likelihood of developing transfusion-related diseases, the costs of transfusion-related diseases and their impact on life expectancy, and the effect of epoetin-alpha on the probability of transfusion. INTERVENTIONS: The efficacy of epoetin-alpha was derived from data from a meta-analysis of published randomised trials comparing the use of epoetin-alpha to augment PAD with the use of PAD alone. Estimates for the other parameters were obtained by a systematic review of the literature. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES AND RESULTS: The use of epoetin-alpha reduced the proportion of patients receiving allogeneic transfusions by 60% (from 31.6 to 12.7%). However, this led to only a modest benefit of 0.000035 life years gained per patient and an incremental cost per life year gained of $Can44.6 million (1998 Canadian dollars). A detailed sensitivity analysis confirmed that the cost-effectiveness ratio was larger than that which is generally considered acceptable. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that the use of epoetin-alpha to reduce perioperative allogeneic transfusions in cardiac surgery is not cost effective.

Blood Transfusion, Autologous↗
PubMed1999

Economic analysis of erythropoietin use in orthopaedic surgery.

The aim was to assess the cost-effectiveness of erythropoietin (EPO) to reduce patients' exposure to perioperative allogenic blood products in orthopaedic surgery. The use of EPO was assessed for EPO used alone and for EPO, to augment preoperative autologous donation (PAD). A decision analytical model was designed incorporating (i) the risk of receiving allogeneic blood, (ii) the costs of blood products, (iii) the likelihood of developing transfusion-related diseases, (iv) the costs of transfusion-related diseases, (v) the impact of transfusion-related diseases on patient morbidity and mortality and (vi) the effect of EPO upon the probability of transfusion. The efficacy of EPO was derived from data from a meta-analysis of published randomized trials. Estimates for the other parameters were obtained by a systematic review of the literature. EPO alone led to only modest incremental benefit compared to no intervention for orthopaedic surgery (0.000024 life-years gained per patient). As an augmentation to PAD, EPO also led to modest benefits (0.000006 life-years gained per patient). For EPO compared to no intervention, the incremental cost per life-year gained was $66 million (Canadian). For EPO to augment PAD, the incremental cost per life-year gained was $329 million (Canadian). Detailed sensitivity analysis did not reveal any circumstances in which the cost-effectiveness ratios reached a level generally considered attractive. On the basis of cost-effectiveness, the use of EPO to reduce perioperative allogeneic transfusions in orthopaedic surgery did not meet criteria conventionally considered acceptable.

Blood Transfusion↗